Dust valve mechanism



Jan. 30, 1945. F. B. ALLEN DUST VALVE MECHANISM Filed Nov. 6, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTOR. F'IEA/Wf ,B. 'AllE/V ATTOPA/EYS F. B. ALLEN 2,368,395

DUST VALVE MECHANISM Filed Nov. 6, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 A 7'7'07P/VEYS Jan. 30, 1945 F, B, ALLEN 2,368,395

DUST VALVE MECHANISM Filed NOV. 6, 1942 5 Sheets-Shet 3 I I 3 6' 42 2 44 t 39 40 4/43 6 INVENTOR. g PEA/VA B- ALlE/ Jan. 30, 1945. F. B. ALLEN 2,368,395

DUST VALVE MECHANISM Filed Nov. 6, 1942 s Sheets-She et 4 INVENTOR. FEAN/f 3. A14 53/ BYMW.

Jan. 30, 1945. F. B. ALLEN 7 2,368,395

DUST VALVE MECHANISM I Filed Nov. 6, 1942 5 Sheets-Shet 5 A rro P/VE XS Patented Jan. 30, 194

DUsrvALvE MECHANISM Frank B. Allen, Lower Marion Township, Montgomery County, Pa.,assignor to The Allen- Sherman-Hoff Company, Philadelphia, Pa", a

. corporation of-Pennsylvania 1 v pplication November 6, 1942,.Serial No; 464,720 3 Claims; (01. 302-56) This invention relates generally to the art ofhandling finely divided solids,. such as dust in power plants, and relates particularly to new and improved apparatus for removing finely divided solids. from a collecting hopperfortransfer to a place of'disposal. V

The apparatusv embodying the present. invention ishighly efiicient as compared with prior apparatus in that the maximum solid-material carrying capacity of the swiftly moving air is utilized thruout substantiall the entire time of operation. These results are attained by forming in. a restricted passage below a hopper a plurality of small piles of solids, passing a stream of air thru the passage and about the piles and feeding solids from the hopper in a plurality of streams into the passage and air stream as the solids in the piles are removed until the hopper is emptied of solids. By suitably proportioning the number and size of the streams of solids and the volume and velocity of air flow thru the passage, each unit volume of air will pick up and carry away a quantity of solids equivalent substantially to its full carrying capacity,

The present invention will be" better understood'by, reference to the. drawings which accompanyand form a part of thisspecifioation and in which Figure 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of one form of apparatus embodying the present invention; v

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view, partly in elevation taken on lines 2,'-2of the apparatus showninFig. 1; a

Figure 3 is a. plan view, partly in section taken on line 3-3 of'Fig. 1;

Figure 4 is anenlarged detail sect onal view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3'; y

Figure 5 is a fragmentary and elevational view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1';

Figure 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary viewtaken on line 6-13 of Fig. 3; y

Figure '7 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing a modified form of apparatus embodying the present invention;

Figure 8 is a partly sectional plan view taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 7; and

Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 9-9 of Fig. '7. e

In Figs. 1 to 6 of the drawings, the downwardly oonverginghopper walls! are provided with bottom ring 2 from which depends a valve apparatus, presently to be described. Withinthe hopper a thin metal wall 3, preferably composed 55 of sheets secured together, is pivotally suspended on a rod 4 at its upper end and extends down into the valve apparatus.

The valve apparatus includes a ring 5,.a cy

' lindrical wall 6, a bottom wall I provided with a removable plate 8, projecting end Walls, and end plates. These parts maybe considered as constituting a housing definin andenclosing'a-hopperdischa-rge opening. End plate I l is detachably secured to end walls 9a and Sband is providedrwith an air inlet passage 12 and a bearing thru which a rod. ma reciprocate. The end.

' plate H also'carries a motor [5 which has an extended rotor shaft? on the end of which is positioned an eccentric ring I! surrounded by an eccentric strap I8 which is attached to the adja cent end of the shaft I4.

Thefend walls 9a and 9b, together with bot-' tom wall I, define an enlarged inlet chamber l9. A closure 20 serves to open and close inlet opening.l.2. This closure iscarried by an arm 2| keyed to shaft 22 which extends thru walls 91) and carries an arm23 keyed thereto outside of one wall 9b.

A plate 24' having apluralityof small holes 25 is attached to the lowerv end of wall 3 and is. attachedat one endto shaft l4. Plate 24 is thereby. disposed adjacent to the. bottom end of wall 6 and, serves to retain dustin the hopper except when the shaft l lreciprocates the plate.

End walls Illa and Ill extend outwardlyon one side of {wall '6 and with bottom plate Tdefine an enlarged outlet chamber 26. End plate 21 hasa cylindrical boss 28 -for attachment to a conduit' and a central opening 29. This opening may be opened or closed by a closure 30 in chamber'zt. .IA shaft ,3I'is mounted in bosses 32 of the side walls Hlband, extends across chamber 26. On

on end of this shaft 3| is keyed an arm 33. A bracket 34 mounted on an extension 35 of side wall lob carries a shaft 36 which haskeyed to it a earn 3! engageable with arm 33.

The opposite end of shaft 3| has keyed thereto a combined lever arm .38 and counterweight 39. A rod 40 is slidably mounted in block l I.car-

ried by lever arm 38. and is provided with a fixed shoulder 42 on one side of the block,-and a nutadjusted spring '43 onthe other side of said block.

The rod 40 is pivotally'connected by pin 44 to lever arm 23 which is keyed to shaftZZ, as previously described. A lever anm 45' is keyed to shaft 3| within the chamber 26 and is .pivotally connected to closure 30 for the outlet passage from that chamber. Thelever arm 45 has a lost motion connection with a slotted lug :46, integral with closure 30.

The operation of the above described apparatus is substantially as follows: When finely divided solids have been collected in the hopper and are to be removed therefrom, shaft 35 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow on- 28. Then power is applied to motor I5 with the result that rod I4 and plate 241 are reciprocated. The reciprocation of plate 24 feeds finely divided solids out of the hopper thru holes 25, and'at the same time moves wall 3 about its support 4, thereby agitating and loosening the solids in the hopper and preventing arching of those solids thru inlet passage I2 and will flow at high velocity beneath plate 24 and thence thru chamber 26 in contact with the small piles of solids and out thru outlet passage 29. The air will pick up solids from the piles and carry it into the connected conduit and to a place of disposal. As solids are taken from the piles more solids can pass thru holes and onto the piles or into the air stream. In this manner the air has full opportunity to pick up all the solids it can carry away and to do so as long as any solids remain in the hopper. By properly correlating the suc tion or vacuum applied to the conduit, the amount of air admitted thru inlet passage I2, and the size and number of holes 25 in plate 24, a ratio of air to solids which is best suited to carrying the maximum amount of solids may be established and maintained, and the maximum amount of solids can be removed from the hopper and transported to a place of disposal without any substantial separation of the solids from the air.

For the sake of brevity I have chosen to use the term dust in the accompanying claims but intend that this term should include all manner of finely divided solids.

The modified apparatus shown in Figs. 7 to 9 is generally similar to the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive and described hereinabove. Accordingly, only the differences in construction will be described.

The hopper I has pivoted therein a thin metal wall 3a which corresponds generally in shape to wall 3 of Fig. 1 and which is similarly pivotally suspended in the hopper. Between the ring 2 of hopper l and the housing composed of cylindrical wall 6, bottom wall 1 and end plates, is disposed a ring 511. A bar 3b secured at its upper end to wall 3a extends centrally down thru ring and cylinder 6 with its lower end terminating just below the lower end of the latter. This bar 31) constitutes an extension of the wall 3a corresponding generally to the vertical-sided lower portion of wall 3 of Fig. 2 which projects into cylinder 6. The rod I4a extends from eccentric end of bar 31).

The plate Ha corresponds to plate I I of Fig. 1 but is provided with a passage I2a which communicates with an upwardly extending intake pipe [2b which has a downwardly bent upper end.

Within the space in the housing are disposed two pipes 5| as shown in Figs. '7 to 9. The intake ends 52 of these pipes are disposed above the lower end of cylinder 6 in space I9 and preferably on the opposite sides of and on about the same horizontal elevation as the outlet end of passage I2. As is better shown in Fig. 8, these pipes 5| extend convergingly across the discharge end of cylinder 6 and terminate in open ends 53 within the enlarged chamber 26. The pipes 5| may be secured in place in the housing in any convenient manner but, as shown, they rest on the bottom wall I of the housing, are clamped against cushion blocks 54 on the outer side of cylinder 6, and their opposite ends are secured in place by a cross bar 55 which is connected to wall I of the housing.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that the perforated plate 24 of the modification shown in Figs. 1 to 6 has been omitted, rod M has been replaced by rod I4a connectedto an extension of wall 3a and pipes 5I have been included. Also pipe lZb has been added.

The operation of the apparatus of Figs. '7 to 9 is quite similar to the above described operation of apparatus of Figs. 1 to 6. When finely divided solids are to be removed from hopper I and the housing therebelow, the inlet andoutlet closures 2B and 30 are moved to open position and the fiow of such material into the space below cylinder 6, where it is entrained in the air and is thereby carried away thru the discharge outlet from the housing.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 429,269, filed February 2, 1942.

Having thus described my invention so that others skilled in the art may be able to understand and practice the same, I state that what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is defined in what is claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. Ash handling apparatus including an ash hopper having a discharge opening in its lower portion, a housing below said hopper, said housing comprising an annular wall defining a passage communicating at its upper end with said hopper discharge opening, a bottom wall spaced a short vertical distance below the lower end of said annular wall, end walls spaced from opposite sides of said annular wall and defining therewith air inlet and outlet chambers, and vertically short, outwardly and downwardly extending op posed side walls between said end walls and connecting said annular wall with said bottom wall, said side and bottom walls defining a short vertical space below the lower end of said annular wall and slightly wider than said passage, a wall pivotally supported in said hopper, an extension from said pivoted wall small in cross section as compared with the cross sectional. area of said passage and extending lengthwise of said passage and into said short vertical space, and means connected to said extension in said short vertical space and extending through the inlet chamber and the adjacent'end wall for reciprocating said pivoted wall about its support, and vacuum creating means connected with said outlet chamber for creating a flow of air through said vertical space from the inlet chamber to the outlet chamber while ash agitated by said reciprocating wall is flowing from said passage into said short vertical space.

2. Ash handling apparatus including an ash hopper having a discharge opening in its lower portion, a housing below said hopper, said housing comprising an'annular wall defining a passage communicating .at its upper end with said hopper discharge opening, a bottom wall spaced a short vertical distance below the lower end of said annular wall, end walls spaced from opposite sides of said annular wall and defining therewith air inlet and outlet chambers, vertically short, outwardly and downwardly extending opposed side walls between said end walls and connecting said annular wall with said bottom wall, a pipe in said short vertical space and extending from an open end in the inlet chamber to an open end in the outlet chamber, said side and bottom walls defining a short vertical space below the lower end of said annular wall and slightly wider than said passage, a wall pivotally supported in said hopper, an extension from said pivoted wall small in cross sectionas compared with the cross sectional area of said passage and extending lengthwise of said passage and into said short vertical space, and means connected to said extension in said short vertical space and extending through the inlet chamber and the ad- .jacent end wall for reciprocating said pivoted wallabout its support, and a vacuum creating means connected with said outlet chamber for creating a flow of air through said short vertical space through th inlet chamber to the outlet chamber while ash agitated by said reciprocating wall is fiowing from said passage into said short vertical space. V

3. Ash handling apparatus including an ash hopper having a discharge opening in its lower portion, a housing below said hopper, said housing comprising an annular wall defining a passage communicating at its upper end with said hopper discharge opening, a bottom wall spaced a short vertical distance below the lower end of said annular wall, end walls spaced from opposite sides of said annular wall and defining therewith,

air inlet and outlet chambers, and vertically short outwardly and downwardly extending opposed sidewalls between said end walls and connecting said annular wall with said bottom wall, said sideand bottom walls defining a short vertical space below the lower end ofsaid annular wall and slightly wider than said passage, a wall pivotally supported in said hopper, an extension from said pivoted wall small in cross section as compared with the cross sectional area of said passage and xtending lengthwise of said passage and into said short vertical space, a perforated plate extending horizontally in said short vertical space below said passage and connected to the lower end of said extension, and means extending from said plate through the adjacent end wallof the housing for the reciprocating said perforated plate, and a vacuum creating means connected with said outlet chamber for creating a fiow of air through said vertical space through the inlet chamber to the outlet chamber while ash agitated by said reciprocating wall is flowing from said passage into said short vertical space. v

' FRANK B. ALLEN. 

